Spring Prep in our "No-Work" Garden, and an EASIER way to Spread Mulch 

Ah shoot! Anyone notice the typo in the video?

Wow you master the art of clarity in your speach my friend. So well done, not just on the content but on the way you present and say/show it. All of the videos I've seen from you guys (didnt watch all of them yet) are top notch, full of valuable info and with a great attitude. Thank you again

Finally! Been waiting for what seems like forever!

Your channel is my favorite!!!!!!

I used a round bale too, way cheaper than squares and i have plenty to spare. That said some people fund my huge round bale pretty amusing sitting in my yard.

Hope all is well, missing your videos.

GREAT VIDEO!!! Full of Wonderful information!!!! Very useful!!! 🍅🌽🌶🥒🌱🌿🌾~ Ms K

I started gardening about 2 years ago and have been maintaining an small orchard since 2011. Your channel is a virtual gold mine!! I had been wondering what to do with all the branches and limbs I have after pruning my trees each year. PROBLEM SOLVED!...now I can try this Ruth Stout method. I have quite a few palm trees (Pindos) as well. This will be interesting.

This is the best channel It’s well made interesting and fun to watch Keep up the good work

When can we expect your next video?

Are you guys done making vids?

Hi thought I would check on you guys. We have watched all your videos and were wondering if your planning on uploading any more content. Hope all is well.

What happened to you guys. No garden or garlic updates this year.

You've been quiet ... things okay??

If you don't mind my asking, what lavelier microphone and recording system do you use? Crystal clear :)

New favorite channel. I learned the Ruth Stout method by accident. Mulched my forsythia bushes with straw. Best mulch ever (until I bought some that still had the seed heads, which of course grew oats. Pulled up easily, but still not happy.) it sure made the ground beneath soft and nutrient dense.

Any updates?

Well my dears, my Ruth Stout garden has had a problem. I didn't start it soon enough last year and we had a very dry winter so the hay just wouldn't rot. I am also having a problem with weeds that are coming up through the thick hay. South Carolina weeds are apparently quite tough to kill - especially the Dollar weed and wild Blackberries. I will keep plugging on. So enjoy your videos.

when is there a new video coming out ???

Can you work an "And I'm Paula" in there sometime for old times sake? Otherwise, garden looks great!

It’s time for another video!!!

You do an incredible job with the voice-over work -- AND -- you gave us great content in the video. Thank you! (👍#335 and comment #45). Best wishes from Kate in Olympia, WA

My favorite gardeners. Always a pleasure to see your channel pop up. Really like the garden area. Hay rolling over the rows sure would save time and energy. Looks perfectly ready now. Just need some warm spring days. Looking forward to your next video. Thanks. 😊👍

I really miss your cheerful hellos at the beginnings of the videos.

Finally! A new video from Back to Reality! -I've been just waiting for one of these....a sure sign of spring to see another one of your videos! I live in Minnesota and it looks like you are ahead of us-bud cases are just now falling off the new leaves. I can't wait to see how your chop and drop worked-I'll be looking forward to that video.

Thanks for the video. So glad to hear from you guys! Great trick with the round bale. I do a no till method sort of. I live in a town with a small yard and use wood chips for mulch. I can't wait to start planting. We are zone 3/4.

With respect to using the round bale of hay that you guys unroll... Just reinforces for me how many times I have procrastinated about using something or trying a new method that I think will work but because it's in a slightly different form... I hesitate a bit... And to my delight it sometimes works out to be even more of a fulfilling method because I used it even though I procrastinated before... summary point... Just try using it without too much mental input

I love the round bales rolling clips and the summary of your experience with different mulches over time. I'm working on cleaning up a burnt 60 foot trailer on 3/4 acre of woods, conversation to Ruth Stout & Digger style garden. No till over Rocky clay. I've also worked with wood chips (Back to Eden style) and leaves. Hay is so easy to transport, spread, and affordable. Breaks down faster than chips and leaves it seems. Seems higher in nitrogen also. Thanks y'all! ♥️🙏🐾

I have a more classic garden bed this year, one i tilled and hoe up to plant.(might no-work next year) Problem is this year it won't stop raining!! ahh! my garden is nothing but a mud puddle! I want to build it up and make it higher then the lawn around it, but how do i add volume without to much money? I got 2 bails of that spoiled hay, should I toss it all in there? or wait till fall to cover the entire thing? help?

Every time I hear the ending, Deep down i know its over.... But i hope the video will just last a little longer

Hey guys? Nothing new?

Great job guys. But add only hay restrict the nutrients There are returning to the soil. Considering add different type of materials together, like hay-greenleaves-rotten wood-, in long term ur soil must be richier. With diversity of cover soil materials ur soil Will increase nutrients passing years. Permaculture methods include produce ur own cover-soil material by planting them together with foodplants to chop'em down be4 planting seasos to maximize sunlight cheers from brazil

Very good video wow I thought when parked the camper no one would watch wow I was wrong congrats on 100# 🛠🛠🛠🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦

Nothing new happening?

Upload more frequently!!

Dang! Pretty sure I've been keeping up on your videos, but was surprised to see how extensive your space is, and how many hugelkultur mounds you have. Probably operator error while attempting to access memory banks. :) Love how you figured out the most efficient way to utilize the round bale. As long as you have easy access to them, and they aren't a pain to collect & haul, I'd keep using the deep leaf mulch technique too. I use loads of leaves in the garden, mulching foot paths, and feeding them to the compost pile. They're eventually going to become some wonderful humus, which goes well on whole wheat crackers. Wait - that's hummus!

Hey guys. I've been watching your videos for a few months now and I'm actually quite interested in the "no-work" method. I live in Ontario and I'm trying it out this year. Last year I added woodchip mulch for the first time and I checked it and its degrading like you guys said in your "Back to Eden" video. My questions are, when is/are the best time(s) to mulch and is using a combination of topsoil, compost, and woodchips/bark sufficient to create a "no-work" garden? I don't want to hurt my mom's roses and I know that weed seeds can germinate after long periods of no sunlight but some weeds are coming up now and I'm not sure if its a good time to use my cedar mulch (I'm not sure if its better than black dyed mulch). We tend to buy topsoil as although our soil is good, it isn't as soft and crumbly as yours and to be honest it can get quite heavy if we don't dig into it.

Love it! I am going to plant 20 lbs of seed potatoes in straw like you guys did. I'm so excited to see our harvest!

I can't stop laughing at your delight in finding that round bales simply roll out. Something that seems simple to someone who grows up with it is a process of discovery for those new to the lifestyle. Its the only way we truly ever learn... by doing. Enjoy watching your journey. And yes... spoiled hay should be free for the asking... just ride some back roads and you are sure to come across some sitting beside the road. Just track down the owner and ask... its almost always yes... and many are happy to help you load it with their tractor if its not too big an inconvenience for them at the time.

Well spoken, but.... It would seem that you have mistaken work, for no work. That mulch and toppings didn't spread themselves.

Hey there; just a tip from a 'Ruth Strout" er from the 1970's........ The only limiting factor in the whole system is the availability and affordability of mulch. My 'free' mulch disappeared the third year. AND the amount of bulk required to keep the weeds in check was mind boggling.

Great graphics as normal. Are you a graphic designer?

Actually the 'no work' concept is bull. What it is is a 'less work' system that allows you to get other work done. So actually is is a 'same work' but more productive system......(!)

You guys are awesome. Brilliant idea. I’ve been gardening the old fashion way. Gotta try your was. Thank you for sharing. God bless.💕☀️🌈🙏🏻🌎

I looooove using hay. Round bales are so much cheaper and that rolling trick we learned from listening to Gabe Brown give a talk about how he planted potatoes. He literally drives along, plops the potatoes down from the bag in the truck, then rolls out bales of hay on top. I was sold.

Hello :D ! Fellow Canadian here, but on the Quebec side. I'm enjoying your channel tremendously, and learning LOADS !! I am won over by your gardening philosophy, and your channel ;-) Given how you guys are located in Eastern Ontario, we probably share similar climate conditions, and that makes me hopeful that I could replicate your incredible results. May I ask a question? I see that you are planting in a field, which entails that the 'base' soil was probably ideal for cultivating. Do you know whether the Ruth Stout method can be applied to a regular urban lawn? Since the method creates rich soil, I am thinking of trying it on land that is either of poor soil, or as mentioned earlier, an urban backyard. >> I definitely need to read and watch more on the Ruth Stout method ^_^ Any resources you'd recommend? Thank you for uploading such great videos. You've got me hooked and thrilled !

You need new posts

Aloha! We love your channel! :) Hearing you talk about a blank canvas I wonder: Have you considered a sun scoop? Piles of rocks to encourage small creatures? Larger hugelcultures (6 ft?) Do you need to plant trees for windbreaks or does your forest go all around you? Thank you so much for the wonderful videos! My 5 yr old can tell people the Ruth Stout method and is so excited when there is a new video. And, actually, I am too! :)

Hi, just started watching your videos quite recently, have picked up a lot of good ideas, thank you. I do have a question about the heavy mulching. Do you not find that rodents are attracted to these piles of hay/leaves, etc? I live in southwest Saskatchewan, and we have a LOT of voles in the garden. I'd like to try your mulching method, but I worry about providing extra "homes" for the voles.

Love this system. Last summer I grew Potatoes under a Thick straw layer, and this spring broad beans are growing in the same place. My "mistake" is that I dug it before broad beans were planted , nut results are so good. But I have a doubt, where is nitrogen? Ideal compost Has 1 portion of Nitrogen and 30 of Carbon. Straw ratio is 1 of Nitrogen per 500 Carbon. This suggests that green materials should be mixed with straw or hay.

Maybe you’ve addressed this in another video, and if so you can let me know which one. I’m wondering - if I cover my existing garden (just black dirt currently) now with hay, and I hope to plant in 3-4 weeks, will that work? And if it does, what is the best way to plant? Pull it apart make rows, and gently cover? Also, after you rolled out the round bale, would it be best to pitch fork it to lighten it up so the hay isn’t so dense?

I've now watched a few of your videos. Kudos on your successes! We have gophers and such here causing problems. What about mice, etc getting into your hay mounds? Any problems? Thank you for showing us this easier on the back method!

I had the results of growing my potatoes in mulch in 2 different beds this year. They were about 5 m by 50 cm. One had a wheelbarrow worth of compost so around 1 cm, potatoes placed on top, and a thick mulch of chipped Christmas trees from the city, about 15 cm. Then the other bed had double the compost, same mulch. Without any surprise, the bed with more compost produced more (but not double). Taste was about the same IE very good, a lot better than I expected for this Mona Lisa variety which is pretty standard. The "normal" potato beds, dug and without any mulch, produced more, without surprise again. It had a lot of horse manure the previous year so it was rich. But it was a lot more work for sure, also a lot of work to dig out the potatoes, and more to make the ground ready for planting again. For the mulched potatoes, I simply removed a bit of the mulch to plant leeks, and put the mulch back in. The leeks are going fine. I'll try it again next year, with more compost. Also, we had an unfortunate late frost, in early May, which hadn't happened in 15 years, and hit the mulched potato beds the hardest to its unsheltered location, so that affected yields IMO. I planted in mid April.

Hi you guys ! Hope this finds you well and happy. I googled “lazy gardener” a while back because I wanted the food without the work. Consequently I found you guys and got hooked on your vlogs. Then I got inspired ! Then I got to work ! Long story short, in February I had a lawn and now at the end of May I have enough food in my garden to feed us every night for months ahead. I can’t thank you enough for sowing that seed. All my previous efforts had been half hearted, half productive and hard work. I wish I could send you some pictures of what you’ve help create. I’m even cooking my own compost for next year to feed the whole garden. If ever you hit the road again and end up in the UK there’s a mobile home looking over the veg garden and you’ll be very welcome any time 😊

Hay is supposed to have more nutrients, but I've noticed that it sprouts like crazy in Georgia, so I'll probably try straw next year. In the meantime, I'm pulling out all that fresh alfalfa, and trying to mix kitchen-scrap compost, leaves and pine straw in my beds in preparation for planting -- just a little time in each bed, one bed a day. I'm running late this year, more like your timing in Canada, but we have a long growing season, so I think we might still have a good crop. Learning something new each season -- experience is supposed to be the best teacher, but I surely do value what I've learned from you two, as well. Thanks for all your marvelous ideas.

I just discovered your channel because of your 337 lbs of potatoes episode. I live in New Bruunswick and it is so nice to see a Canadian Content show like this that deals with our colderclimate. Your programs are fantastic and so infromative. I subscribed and I am now binging your past episodes. Since I retired I took up beekeeping and love it. With the land you have and your love of the land you should get a couple of hives to both pollenate your gradens and produce your own honey. If you do get into bee keeping do not both with the Top Bar system, your bees will freeze over winter.

I used hay to cover the bed when I planted strawberry last year. But it was not 8" thick, more like 1' to 2". Then, I had to keep pulling weeds and new hay sprouts all summer long. If I put 8" thickness hay, it wouldn't happen?

To me, this channel seems oddly similar to this one: ru-vid.com But about gardening instead of filmmaking.

Gardening can be very stressful. All the do's and don't cause me to pause and say "nope, not this year" but your series has given me such a buzz that I am absolutely going to get a a few beds ready for next spring. I am hoping that the Ruth Stout method will kick some royal bootie for my grapes I wanna grow, and some watermelon tho I am thinking the hugelkultur method would be divine for those tough vines.

This will be my first year planting a garden and your videos have been immensely helpful. It doesn't hurt that you talk clearly and precisely. Like a CBC broadcaster lol.

I'm currently working on turning a large plot into a Back to Eden/Ruth Stout garden. I wanted to get your opinion on planting in the Ruth Stout conditions on year 1. I should have access to some good old hay. The soil is already pretty good underneath. Do you think I will experience any benefits this year or is the method ineffective without having settled from Fall to Spring? Thanks for your reply.

Hello Derek, Paula!! I cannot wait to find some spoiled hay, I’m getting up there n age to work a garden the hard way, not to mention that I have a few pains. I have heard of this method for a long time now “I did not know about Ruth Stout” but wish I did n the beginning of my gardening days, I have heard the good, but mostly bad on using hay, so I asked other youtubers about it, very few answered, and I read many negative comments from viewers, so I stayed away from it. But seeing that y’all started using it two years ago, and still r, not to mention, who would know better than an elder, one who has proven that it works...Ruth Stout. I Thank her, I Thank the both of u, now I just need to find untreated spoiled hay and enjoy easy gardening!!! Thank u both

do you mow the paths between your beds? I've used hay to build garden soil for decades, as well as woodchips and compost. In our later years we began to raise livestock (beyond chickens). We bale our own hay. Every year I have my husband drop off rained on bales near the garden, for use the following year. I'm pretty sure there were none last year for me though, so, bummer. It was a horrible hay year as we had so much rain. One thing I never do is refer to our own hay as "free", haha. We consider hay to be such a resource that we never look for it to leave the farm, except as a kindness to bless a neighbor or one of our kids. We don't really like the idea of our nutrients leaving the farm, except as meat and eggs and vegs. We'd really like to repair and rebuild our soil :) Do you ever test your soils? I'd be curious how your "before" soil compares with your various built up soils. Do you ever use animal manures (beyond the wild ones)? Most of my newer gardens were created with barnyard clean up, which for us is a mix of hay, manure, and dirt from areas that built up during the winter where the grass-fed cow congregated. The sheep and chickens do a better job of spreading their own, ha. In the fall I have my husband fill a couple of large buckets with this and store it in my potting greenhouse for starting seeds in the spring. It continues to break down over the winter. When I share this stuff it means I truly love the recipient :) I too am glad to see a new video. Thank you.

Great seeing you guys back at it!!! I might try a round bale when I start my back orchard. I am wanting to build up my soil because it's heavy clay and I don't want my tree roots to drown. But I'm a year or two away from planting. Dirt work first!

I just found your channel and really enjoy it. Any tips on how to start being more off the grid without breaking the bank? I have a smaller garden right now of about 10-20 plants but want to expand as much as i can. Seems to get more expensive as i go.

So glad to see a video, thank you! Looking forward to your summer garden. Have you thought about wearing masks while spreading spoiled hay? Or is your limited contact with the mold spores not long enough to warrant the inconvenience?

Do you happen to know what the farmer bales those rounds in typically? It’s my understanding 6ft dia. is typical but at that size no way are 2 people going to be able to handle that safely. The one dropped to y’all appears to be 4ft? 5max? How was unloaded and how strenuous was it to handle? Thanks 😊

Hello there, we have lots and lots of slugs here in Switzerland... Do you have many slugs at all? Because my concern is, that this method will be a perfect habitat for slugs then eating away all vegetables...

After watching 1/2 dozen videos, you finally answered my question. Hay is very seedy, so I assumed you meant straw. No weeds or clover grow from the hay?

I see your love for getting back to reality and simplicity , yet using the little grey cells to explore " new" ares of life that are possible and Doable ..as in Help is here for us. Ever had a look at Earthships and the gardens incorporated into the home ? Would the Huglekulture and Ruth Stout methods be great in a setting like that ? I wonder.

no cover crops? btw forests have lots of roots associated with fungi...not that forests grow vegetables. also forests dont use hay. therefore not much like a forest at all. i'm sure soil structure improving though. my biggest bug-bear with no fertilizer input is that it simply entirely ignores the high nutrient levels required for high intensity and high density human bred vegetable crops. if the levels aint there, then no amount of good soil structure makes potassium, calcium or phosphorous available by magick. it's good not to waste fertilizer down waterways but, they're not inherently evil. in fact, high intensity crops need certain levels of nutrients or you get less healthy crops. have you done a soil test? all the best to you. do keep in mind that cover crops is less work and better for soil biota than turning massive piles of dead organic matter into atmospheric carbon.

I was wondering..have you perhaps heard of a wheel herb grinder? I found your channel while looking for how to dry garlic for making garlic powder and I got to thinking when I saw your video. You mentioned how you could use a mortar and pestle if you wanna do it off grid style, but I think that the type of grinder I'm thinking of would do a good job, it has a trough that you place your item you want to grind up in and then you have a wheel with a handle through it so it can roll back and forth. You roll the wheel back and forth and if it runs up the sides you use the wheel to scrape them down and keep doing this till it's done. I've seen a few made of wood but the most common are made of cast iron but nobody really talks about them outside of Eastern Medicine where in Japanese they are called Yagen (have to be careful looking them up as there is an anime character with the same name). I think that type of grinder might be something you could look into for not only your garlic powder and garlic salt but any nuts or the like you wanna grind up too.

Do you guys use wood chips at all? I've been thinking about giving them a try, but not sure if it'll be worth the expense (no free wood chips here in Spain) :)

Good to see a video from you guys again. No-stress is def the way to go. Wish round bales were available around here, but then, if they were I doubt I'd get it through my garden gate ;-) - so I use what I have in abundance, leaves.

So nice to see another video from you two. I got spoiled when I found your channel and had all the old videos to watch. This being patient between videos is now a challenge! *grin* I had to start my own RU-vid channel so I had more to do. I really enjoy how you put your videos together. Looking forward to summer!

Really enjoy your videos, was wondering if you have problems with pests such as voles. We started a Ruth Stout bed mulched with straw and the voles moved in and ate our potatoes. Any idea how to deal with such a problem?

in our forest in Borneo there is a lot of humus ... if it is taken to grow vegetables it is still good and does it still need to be covered with hay? If possible, how long after taking topsoil can it be planted? sorry I don't really understand English, so I wrote this with geogle translate, please answer, so I can translate the writing from your answer, thank you

how do you do pest control? I can barely keep a couple rosemary plants alive over here in Uruguay, practically any other plant will get infested by assorted bugs almost the day it's planted

I just want to say that your channel is great and loving all the technical information and you guys showing how easy it is to do. Hugely inspirational! From someone trying to get back to the real reality with not alot of know how as a foundation.

Looks like a lot of work to me. No getting around work when it comes to Farming and Ranching no matter how small the area is. But it beats wasting away in front of electronic gadgets.

But what if you're just starting your first garden? Would you remove the top layer of grass first and then lay hay down or just put it down right over the grass? And if so how are the roots of your veggies getting any soil and its nutrients?

Awesome video. Did you find it easier to find spoiled hay from the growers or from farms that purchased it and had extra?

Derrick we think your terrific but it was very nice to see Paula . I hope she feels better.

As for mulch, I use any type I get. If you want to super charge this add wood ash (dead doctors don't lie).

You said in one video that you grow a lot of garlic. What do you do with it all. Is it a cash crop? Is it only for your own consumption?

Thanks for sharing your adventure. You are inspirational and I can't wait to start my garden!

Are yall going to try making pine rosin potatoes? It's a old southern tradition and its was used to keep the fresh.

Straw takes longer to break down , and does not appear to feed the soil as well as hay. Timothy hay being the best so far.

Only issue w hay in Texas is majority will have been treated w chemicals of some type

Love this video. Now I know how to spend less time preparing the bed for the garden

great vid. Im a cover crop guy but will try that out somewhere in my gardens

As a somewhat lazy person that likes the outdoors, this video is so much yes for me. lol

Bonjour, super de vous retrouver. Je vous suggère un site très intéressant bien que cela se passe dans le sud de la France. Il y a beaucoup de connaissances à en tirer. Voici le lien: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-5Da4D-1BJlQ.html

Glad to see your up walking around with no crunches.

Do you not find hay too full of weed seeds like duck ragout and broom?

Is it weird to ask a local farmer for spoiled hay or straw as a 17 year old?

Omg I have so much to learn from you before I start my garden 😮❤

I LOVE the FAQs you answered!

Amazing! Year 3 already! More please.

We've been doing this method for about 3 years now. It's really beneficial to keep weeds down/out--but it also has it's cons(everything does). As you showed in one clip your ground was still frozen--part of soil being more exposed with less insulation helps it warm up faster and thus grow things faster. Second, how has your experience been with slugs with such wet soils and ground cover? Ours has been pretty bad---slugs love the moisture and they're all over our garden using this method. We've got chickens in a moat surrounding our garden this year, but we're also looking into using toads and keeping them within the area of our garden to help. Last, have you guys ever used a seeder? We tried one this year(a Jang JP-1) and the straw is a pain in a butt when it comes to this... we had to slightly til the top inch and pull away the straw really well or it'd get caught up in our seeder. Good video---just consider putting the cons of this also.